National Park #5, canceled August 9, 2018
Crater Lake was the second stop on our Cascade Volcanoes summer 2018 road trip. We had traveled there from Mount Rainier, detouring briefly to Multnomah Falls along the way. As we approached Union Creek Campground outside Crater Lake, the sky became ominously smoky. We quickly pitched our tent before it got dark, then met Jeremy’s family at Beckie’s Café nearby. The ones who were supposed to camp with us explained their concern about breathing the smoky air all night to the lady at the Union Creek Resort lodge across the street, and she was able to wrangle together their nicest cabin (the only one left) for a much more doable price than its usual $350. It had two upstairs bedrooms, a full living room, kitchen, and bunk beds downstairs. While our family was fine sleeping in the tent, the offer of a shower and mattress (and yes, cleaner air) was too much to pass up. So we all enjoyed a great night in a luxury cabin!
Our family got up nice and early, tiptoeing out of the cabin to get a chance at seeing the famous blue water of Crater Lake before the smoke rolled in. When we got there, we could see the water, but it was definitely more gray than blue. We walked around for a little while and picked up Junior Ranger books while waiting for everyone else to arrive. Once they did, we shared a lovely lunch at the historic lodge, then hopped on the Crater Lake Trolley.
I was a little worried that the trolley ride wouldn’t be worth it since the lake was so smoky, but as we made our way around, the blue slowly began to take over the gray. We were able to see Wizard Island, Pumice Castle, and the Phantom Ship. We also enjoyed a stop at Vidae Falls, where Briella cooled off by dunking her hat in the super cold water and pouring it on her head. It was really nice to sightsee together with everyone and not have to worry about driving and caravaning.
By the time we got back to the lodge, the smoke had rolled in even more and settled right over the lake. Where before we could see the shoreline, Wizard Island, and even its reflection, now we could barely make out the outline of the island and the crater rim. Amazing how quickly it changed in the couple of hours we were gone from that spot. While the kids finished up their Junior Ranger badges with the dads, the rest of us relaxed in the lobby of the lodge. A ranger did a talk right next to us about the history of the lake and the volcano that formed it. Despite the smoke, we had a great visit. We’ll just have to come back sometime to see the vivid blue that makes the lake so famous.
We returned to Beckie’s Cafe for dinner with everyone, then turned in for the night at our still-set-up tent. We took a stroll around the campground and found some really great sites hidden among the trees with a creek running behind them. I wish I could remember the numbers, because we would sure love to camp there next time!
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